Top-bearing caster socket



Aug. 28, 1923.

' N. C. JOHNSON TOP BEARING CASTER socxs'r Filed Aug. 5. 1921 INVENTOR cATTORNEY Patented Aug. 28, 1925' NnLsON C. JOHNSON", on IVEEBIDEN,CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOB TO ros'rnis, MERRIAM AND COMPANY, OF Mnn nEN,CONNECTICUT, A oonronarrron or CONNECTICUT.

TOP-BEARING onsrnr. sooner- Application filed August 5, 1921.. Serial o.489,573.

To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that L'llnLso-N G. JonNsoN' a citizen of the United States,residing at Meriden, county of New Haven, State of Connecticut, haveinvented an Improvement in. Top-Bearing Caster Sockets, of which thefollowing" is a specification.

This invention relates to a caster socket and has for an object toprovide a caster socket in which the pintle is very tree to turn, Afurther object of the invention is p to provide a socket which is cheapto nianu taoture and comprises few parts so is strongand not liableto'be easily broken or gotten out of order. a

In the preferred embodiment the socket is made up of two narrow stripsof sheet l metal Crossed at substantially their centers and formed intoa tube in a forming; die with the inner end pressed inwardly to form a:enter top bearing tor. the pintle oi the caster inserted in the socketThe track plate is secured on the open end of: the socket by spinningover the free ends of the plates 'li'oriuing the body, projections beingpro vided on the plate to form a stop on the other side of thetrackplate. For a more detailed description of the invention reference is hadto the accompanyinedrawings in which; j V

Fig. 1 is'a side elevation of a Caster and socket removed from thearticle "to which they are to be applied. V

Fig. 2 is a central sectional elevation of the socket showing); thepintle in place therein. c

Fig. 3 is top planview oi the socket. Fig. 4: is a view showing the bodyof socket in elevation with the track plate in section butbetore'thebody portion has been spun over the same. f

Fig. 5 is a section or" the'closed end of the socket showing a slightlymodified form of bearing for the pintle.

Fig. 6 is a bottom plan view of the socket. Fig. 7 is a plan view ofonersection of the socket ready to be inserted in the forming die. I

the member shown in Fig. 7, and

Fig. 9 shows two sections placed together in position to be inserted inthe forming die.

i The body of the socket is made up 01" two pieces of metal 10 and 11,which before he Fig. 8 is a transverse central section o1"- the same bya plunger bearing upon the I pro ection 13,0n the top member bending thetree sides together and curving them to form a tube, as shown in Figs.lto i and 6; I The die is formed with short grooves adapted to receivethe projections 14 so that the whole body member may be formed in oneoperation. While still in the die one of the bodyv'members. as 11', isformed with one.

or more inwardly extending projections 15 in the side wall thereoflbymeans or" a transversely movingv punch the functions of which willpresently be disclosed.

Track plate 16 is punched from sheet metal and is substantially cupshape, as

shown. An opening 17 is formed in the center'thereoi to recelve the openend of the body of the socket and a series of notches.

18 are provided around the periphery of this openingto allow the lugs 1%to pass through -1nember 11, projects within the socket from the closedend thereof and that projection 13 on the outermember 1O rests in therecess formed at the back of the projection in the inner member 11. Thisprojection on the member 11 torms'a point bearing for the end of thepintle' 2O, and as the flange 21 on that the pintlewillbe free to turnint-he socket because of the small resistance of this 7 ture.

type of bearing. Intermediate its ends the pintle :20 is provided with agroove 22 to receive the projections 15 to retainthe pintle within thesocket. As the side portions oi the member 11 are somewhat resilient,the pintle may be inserted in and removed from the socket withouttrouble as the walls of member ll will yield su'lliciently to allow theprojections 15 to slide by the inner end of the body member.

The usual caster horn 23 carrying the wheel 24: is mounted on the lowerend of the pintle in the usual manner.

in the modification shown inl ig. 5, the end bearing for the pintleinstead of eing fo med by projection 13 at the closed end oi the socket,as shown in 2, is formed by having this closed end dished and the innerend of the pintle is rounded to fit the same. This form, however, is notas tree as the prefer-red form the bearing surface is greater.

it will be apparent from the foregoing description and the drawing thatthe socket is very simple in construction and will be comparativelycheap and easy to manut'ao Also because of the double thickness of themetal at the closed end of the socketiorming the bearing for the pintle,that it will not quickly wear out. it this bearing should, however,become badly Worn the caster will not be inoperative because the lmverflange 2L on the pintle will have a bearing on the open end oi thesocket. The pintle is very free to turn in this socket as there is nobinding action of any kind,

llavng thus set torththe nature of my invention, what I claim is:

l. A caster socket comprising a plurality ct strips or metal crossed atsubstantially the mid lengths thereof, the free ends bent atsubstantially right angles to form a tubular body, and the walls of thestrips at the point of crossing being embossed to form complementaryprojections and recesses in nested relation.

2. A caster socket comprising a track plate having an opening therein, atubular body member having an inwardly extending end wall and an openouter end inserted in said opening and flanged to secure the track platethereon, said body member comprising a pair of metal trips crossed atsubstantia-lly the centers thereof with the free ends bent at rightangles to form the tubular portion and the walls of the strips at thepoint of crossing being pressed inwardly and in nested relation to forman end bearing tor embossed at substantially their centers to formcomplementary projections and re cesses, said strips being crossed withthe pro ections in nested relation and the free ends bent atsubstantially right angles to form a tubular body, a track plate havingan opening therein adapted to receive the open end of said body, stopmeans on the body to position the track plate thereon, and the end ofthe strips being turned over the track plate to secure it in position.

5. IL caster socket comprising metal strips embossed at substantiallytheir centers to form complementary projections and re cesses, saidstrips being crossed with the projections in nested relation and thefree ends bent at ri 'it angles in the direction of the projections toform a tubular body, one of said strips being provided with a projectionadapted to coact with a shoulder on a pintle to retain thesame in thesocket.

in testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

NELSQN C. JOHNSON.

